A Poem of Freedom

And so I sit still in meditation

Searching for that clear concentration

Really, really, realizing that real realization

Not this myopic mayhem of mental masturbation

Nor this constant, constant consternation

For in my enlightened endeavor to be free

These are the thoughts that come to me ...

Chocolate and sex and then sex some more

Ben and Jerry's ... should I go to the store?

Should I cut my lawn; should I do my taxes?

I can receive e-mails; I can't receive faxes

What does that have to do with anything?

When I was young, I would run and jump and play and sing

What should I be doing besides sitting here?

My mind, my brain, my ego, my fear!

Now – STOP – back to my endeavor to be free

... But these are the thoughts that come to me

Chocolate and money and then money some more

I wish everything was free at the mall and the store

What job should I do? Will there be enough?

I have to have money to pay for my stuff

But stuff is stupid – fuck it – I should live in the woods

Free from the "have tos" and "must haves" and "shoulds"

Who needs a big bank account, an overflowing pocket?

Chocolate, chocolate ... chocolate, chocolate, chocolate

Sex and sex and sex. Sex, sex, sex.

I wonder if it would be wrong to ring up my ex

I wish it would STOP – I am sitting here to be free

... But these are the thoughts that come to me

Dear Lord – now I bow. I invoke. I beg. I pray

Can you please be so kind to take these thoughts away?

Amma, Baba, Rama, and all that rhymes with ama

Where are the answers – the Bible? The Gita? The Obama?

No. The answer is right here if I could stop this damn mind

Then the world would be peaceful, gentle and kind

So now the time is here! I shall stop and just listen

To the voice that is pure, to hear what I'm missing ...

"... Please ... do not fight it, do not push against thoughts

Here is where you get trapped, imprisoned ... caught

Remember there was a time before everything

Remember the times when you would run, jump and sing

Be present – that's all – for the thoughts that will be

And then you will be able to enjoy what is free

For who is the one who can be present for all

This is the one who can hear another call

I will be with you right here – with the thoughts that will go

You are the watcher, the presence, the soul"

... And so ... I sit still in meditation

Searching for that clear concentration

But discover that the thoughts – hey yeah – they're OK

Just be with them now, and let them have their say

They aren't hurting anyone if I can give them their space

They will have their own journey, at their own time and pace

I will sit here and be with all that I can

And know that I am that I am that I am